Seasons of Change
by charmony
Summary: NPH 20 - Spanning approximately five years of their lives, this story follows our favourite team, their families and friends as everyone expands and grows in life...and in love. Marriages, babies and drama abound in this 20th installment of my series, The Natural Progression of the Heart.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Back again with a whole new story for your enjoyment. I had decided to skip over of the next five years and come back in to the story at a later date, but then a very wise woman close to me pointed out that I would need to do a lot of explaining about what had happened in the break and where everyone was at now. So I gave it some thought and came up with this piece. We are still going forward five years, but instead of skipping it entirely, this piece will touch on all the highlights of those five years before we drop completely back into the timeline.**

**Reviews for my alphabet piece really thrilled me and while I would love to thank absolutely everyone who reviewed through the whole alphabet, I think that might get a bit messy. So I will simply say a HUGMONGOUS thank you to you all, and an equally generous thank you to those who reviewed Z; Hazmatt, HGRHfan35 and Wtiger5.**

**My Beta, my girl…honey, you have been simply amazing from the moment of our first collaboration over your stuff, through you coming on board with my stuff, to me not being able to do this crazy-wild journey without you. Love you so much sister mine!**

**Warnings will be fluid and dependent on whether the chapter is a huge piece of fluff, or a great big ball of drama. So check the AN's at the start of each chapter just like you did for the alphabet.**

**WARNING: This chapter is rated T, just to be on the safe side.**

**PLEASE NOTE: This is NPH 20. If you aren't already following this series, I recommend that you make your way to my author profile page and start with NPH 1, as some or all of this will not make sense otherwise.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me. And the list of those I do own is getting so incredibly long that I am just going to say that I own anyone who does not come directly from Criminal Minds.**

Chapter 1

Christmas/New Year 2013/2014

Aaron looked out over the bullpen and smiled as he watched his team packing up for the week over the Christmas and New Year break. Reid and Dave in particular were excited to be celebrating their very first Christmases as fathers. And then there was Kelly, who had been so incredibly animated in the past week; her excitement over having a Christmas at all as anything more than just a couple with Brad when they were told for so very long that it would never happen had been so contagious that the atmosphere in the bullpen completely belied what they did for a living.

His smile turned introspective as he thought back to when Jack was only a couple of months old, remembering Haley's excitement mixed with his own despite knowing Jack was too young to really care about all of the holiday festiveness around him. He had really only had that one Christmas with Jack and Haley, having only half the day the following year before their team was called out to find a missing child, and then simply not being there at all the following two years before Foyet happened and then it was just Jack and him…or so he'd thought until Jessica's invitation had both of them _and_ Emily sharing Christmas with them. His life had changed, Jack's life had changed, and now nothing would ever be the same.

Dave turned and raised an eyebrow that clearly demanded to know why he wasn't down there with them waiting to go. Aaron grinned in return and pulled his office door shut. He had promised Emily that he would leave his briefcase at the office, and was thoroughly excited that the work hadn't even caught his attention at all once he had decided it was time to pack up. He thought about his first Christmas with his youngest sons, and how much more the holiday would mean to his daughters now that they were old enough to appreciate such things. And suddenly he couldn't wait to get home and get the long drive out to the Prentiss family holiday home underway.

New Section

Kelly hummed happily to the radio as she drove home from FBI headquarters. Thinking back to when she'd first started discussing with Brad the need to find the most perfect Christmas tree ever for her children's first Christmas with them, she shook her head in renewed wonder.

_Flashback_

"Mummy?"

She looked up from the pile of Josiah's clothing that he had already outgrown and smiled anew at hearing a title she never thought she'd hold.

"Hey baby mine. What's up?"

Danielle moved closer, walking around the large pile of clothing still to be sorted and came in close enough for a cuddle. Kelly didn't hesitate to shove the neatly folded pile of clothing out of the way as she tugged her oldest onto her lap. It hadn't taken them more than a few weeks to figure out that while Nicola liked spending time with them, she didn't always want much in the way of physical contact. On the other hand, Danielle _craved_ that physical closeness, always seeking out cuddles, preferring to hold hands when she was walking with one of them, and leaning up against them when they were stationary. And because she herself adored cuddles, Danielle had fast become 'Mummy's Little Princess'. Which wasn't to say that she didn't love Nicola and Josiah _just_ as much…

_Leave it alone Kelly…figuring out something that intricate will only tie you up in knots and make you feel sick. You love them all, and that is the most important thing at the end of the day._

"Mummy, what's a Christmas tree?"

Kelly felt like she had been sucker-punched, like maybe if she wasn't already sitting down her legs would have gone right out from under her.

She turned Danielle around so that she could see the child's face as she spoke. "Sweetie, a Christmas tree is a special tree that gets put up around this time every year. And once it is all decorated, presents go underneath it to be opened all together as a family."

"Why would we get presents? It isn't our birthdays is it?"

Kelly blinked rapidly, trying to process what she was hearing without giving away her growing horror. "Sweetheart, you _do_ know what Christmas is right?"

Danielle thought about it a moment before shaking her head slowly. Kelly thought she just might cry as she pulled her three year old closer and wrapped her up tighter in her arms. Taking a deep breath in, she ordered her heart to stop pounding so hard as she tried to think on how best to explain the most important holiday of the year.

It took her almost half an hour to get Danielle to the point where she had a basic understanding, but promised the child that it would all make sense over the next month as they prepared. It wasn't until after all the children went to bed that she was able to flop down on her bed and communicate to Brad her startling revelation of the day.

"The girls have never had a Christmas."

_Present Day_

She pulled into the driveway at home and laughed joyously. That had been at the start of the month, when they were just beginning to plan the festivities. The girls had never seen such funny trees, but they'd certainly had a blast as they helped to choose and then decorate their tree. Then Brad came home one day last week with three small boxes, two of which Danielle and Nicola opened and the third that Kelly had opened after shooting Brad a suspicious look that had only provoked a somewhat smug smile from the man she'd been married to for the last twelve years. Then the box was open and she was trying not to cry as Danielle and Nicola exclaimed in delight over their gifts. Nestled in some tissue paper, was a beautiful blue glass ornament with Josiah's name on it. Looking at him again had shown her a look filled with love and she'd had to take a deep breath before standing with Josiah in her arms to put it on the tree, urging the girls to do the same with their matching pink ones.

They'd admired the now-completed tree before Kelly noticed the time and started the bedtime ritual they all knew by heart now. Then, once they were certain all the children were happily snoozing, they had pulled out the presents they had so carefully selected, wrapped and hidden away for just this moment. The best part had come in the morning when the girls had first come into the room to admire the tree at the start of the day, something they'd been doing since it was erected. Seeing their faces all lit up like the tree lights that had at that moment been off had made Kelly glad that she'd gotten there first with her camera to capture the moment.

And now it was Christmas Eve. Walking through the front door to be accosted by excitedly little girls demanding to know if _now_ was the time to open all the presents made her wonder if _any_ of them would be getting any sleep that night. Closing the door behind her, she decided she just didn't care.

New Section

Aaron walked into extremely loud chaos and wondered immediately what bomb had gone off as the noise and mess assaulted his senses. He caught sight of India running from one room to another waving something about in her hand. Chloe appeared shortly after, clearly trying to catch her sister but the second she saw him she veered off the path and ran towards him with an unhappy wail that just added to the noise.

He leaned down to scoop her up, settling her against his chest as he carefully picked his way down the hall. A few minutes later, Chloe was happy and India was sulking, but at least some of the noise had been dealt with. He put his girls on a hip each and headed up the stairs, beginning to pick up the noise of two unhappy boys who almost never fought with each other clearly having a fight over something while Mirkal tried to mediate it. Not hearing the babies crying, he turned toward the nursery, setting Chloe and India inside their room on the way and quietly suggesting they finish putting their things to go with them on their beds.

Slipping into the nursery was like stepping into a well of blessed silence despite the fact that he could still hear the noise outside the room. Micah was clearly asleep in his cot and James was just as clearly falling asleep in his mother's arms as he fed.

"I swear there is no better view right now," he said softly as he approached, leaning in for a tender kiss.

"Mmm, flattery will get you lots of places, but achieving peace between Jack and Toby, or at least something quieter, will get you everywhere you could possibly imagine tonight."

He winced. "That bad huh?"

"It started when I asked for Jack's help in watching the girls while I fed these two earlier in the day. I left Toby out of it because I'd heard Mirkal ask him to help Carrie with something. Not a problem, right? Only then Toby gets upset, not at me which would be accurate since I was the one who left him out, but at Jack, who apparently heard Mirkal make the same request and was honouring his wishes by not distracting his friend. But Toby made a snide comment about being the best person to help watch his little sister when she's born and Jack goes all quiet for a few minutes. The next thing I know, they're watching Toby's favourite movie without having invited him and Toby is unfolding and throwing around all of Jack's packed clothes. They've both been informed that there will be no dessert for them this week and that they are grounded for the week following our holiday, since Carrie and I would still like for them to join us for holiday activities. But now the argument is over whose fault it is that they are in trouble. The shouting is making the girls cranky, I've only just managed to get Micah and James to sleep after three hours of trying and I am so ready to just leave them all behind, just so I can gain a week of peace and quiet before I have to return to the bedlam having six children in this house creates."

Aaron waited while Emily settled her emotions, rocking gently to ease James back to sleep after her rising voice had roused him. "How about that being exactly it."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What is _it?"_

"If the boys don't stop the argument, apologise to each other and everyone else and fix what I'm sure by now must be both suitcases, they both get left behind. I'm sure we could find someone to look after them this week, and even if we couldn't, they don't need to know that."

Emily grinned at him as she stood slowly and eased James into his cot. He watched her tidy her appearance and then suddenly she was in his arms with her legs wrapped around his waist. "Babe, I am _so_ glad you're home."

He wriggled his eyebrows at her with a soft hum of agreement before kissing her soundly and walking them out of the room. When she would have hopped down, he held her fast to him and murmured that she should play along. When he walked into the boys' room seconds later, she was still happily wrapped around him and he was certain, giving him a hickey. Not that he minded though.

Toby noticed him instantly and screwed up his nose as only little boys did when they saw adults kissing. This caused Jack to turn around mid-shout while Mirkal raised an eyebrow at them once he too saw them, though he said nothing.

"Here's how it's going to be; your mother and I are going to take a _nap._ I can see from the comprehension on your faces that I don't need to fill in the blanks, so this is a good start. While we are _napping_ the two of you are going to apologise to each other. You'll apologise to Mirkal, to Carrie and to India and Chloe as well. If you don't know what you are apologising for, you will still make the apology and we will tell you later where you went wrong. There will be no more shouting, no more arguing, no more destruction, either of your stuff or other people's stuff. And you will immediately help each other to repack your suitcases before you offer your help to everyone else. _If_ you do not do any of these things by the time we resurface, we will be returning all your presents back to the stores we got them from and we will be calling someone to come in to look after the both of you over the next week because you certainly won't be bringing your snooty attitudes on our fun family holiday. Do I make myself clear?"

They both nodded vigorously, the horror that had been growing from the moment he'd opened his mouth now full blown on their faces. Emily shook in his arms, clearly trying hard not to shout with laughter. He himself was struggling to keep a stern façade, particularly when Jack and Toby stumbled immediately over their words and their things as they went rapidly from apology to hug, both of them peering at him to make sure he'd seen their reconciliation. He shot them one more stern look for good measure before turning and walking out. Somehow they made it to their bedroom, got the door shut and fell down on the bed before their laughter got the better of them.

Of course, the laughter faded in time and when they looked at each other, the love they shared was so clear that their _nap_ wasn't such a farfetched idea after all.

New Section

"Okay kids, as much as I love and adore Jack and Toby, may I ask why they're being so completely solicitous of each other and of the rest of us?"

Carrie rubbed the twenty-eight week old baby in her tummy who had decided that her mother's sleeping time was the perfect time to play. "Toby and Jack decided today was the day to have the biggest fight of their friendship together. Three hours later, they're still going at it at the top of their lungs. Then Aaron gets home, threatens them with no presents and being left behind and suddenly they're not only best friends and brothers again, but they feel the need to make sure everyone knows they love them by doing things for them. We're all of course pleased about this turn from such an unhappy afternoon, and are enjoying milking it for all it's worth."

Thomas chuckled, shaking his head as Elizabeth laughed til she cried. "That's brilliant. I'm guessing the rest of you were too run off your feet getting ready to go to think of that?"

Emily snorted softly. "I had two screaming seven month old babies demanding attention and two mischievous eighteen month olds running around and disappearing every time I turned my back on them. It wouldn't have dawned on me even if you'd slapped me with a two-by-four."

They all laughed again as Emily eyed her mother speculatively before abruptly changing the subject. "Something's different with you Mother, and I can't quite put my finger on the how or why of it. What gives?"

Elizabeth went bright red as a hush fell over the room. Thomas grinned, clearly enjoying the attention his partner was getting and the expectation of some grand surprise grew in the atmosphere. Then just as suddenly as she'd shown her embarrassment over being placed on the spot, Elizabeth straightened up in her chair and despite the red still tingeing her cheeks, she looked her daughter in the eye and stated confidently, "Thomas and I got married last month while we were in France. We then renewed our vows here in the US to make it legal when we returned to the country."

Emily gaped, unable to formulate a response as she tried to wrap her mind around the fact that her mother, after thirty plus years of being alone after her first husband died, had taken the most binding step imaginable to never being alone again. In fact, she continued to sit in dumbfounded silence until her own husband cleared his throat.

"Congratulations to the both of you. That's just wonderful news; and I'm sure when she gets over her shock, Emily will echo that sentiment."

Carrie and Mirkal agreed as Emily continued to process her thoughts. Since seeing her mother at her wedding, she could not have imagined a more drastic change taking place. The woman who had never had time for her growing up and was always brushing her off now called once a week and spent several hours talking with all of them, catching up on their lives and sharing what was going on in her own. And it wasn't just the phone calls either; she took time out of her life to visit, to help out when needed. Emily had never felt that she mattered to her mother more than she had over the last couple of years. She laughed and joked more than Emily could ever recall her doing combined through the years she was growing up. And when Thomas was mentioned, or even around, she turned into a young woman in the first throes of love.

_Thomas does that…he makes your mother feel special and she in turn makes those around her feel special. She loves him, and he clearly loves her; so what's the problem?_

_There isn't one…_

Emily felt a smile coming on that she did absolutely nothing to hide as she stood up and walked to her mother, who watched her closely as she also stood.

"You're happy Mother?"

"More than I ever thought I deserved to be. He'll never replace your father, but then he never wanted to. He loves me for me, who knows why, and I love him with everything I am."

"Then that's good enough for me. Congratulations Mother; I'm really happy for you."

Everyone looked on as the two women embraced, smiling and happy. Then Emily moved to Thomas and embraced him, welcoming him to the family and threatening him should he ever hurt her mother.

"I have no intention of ever hurting either of you. You're a daughter any man would be proud to have, and your mother is a woman any man would be proud to introduce as his wife. So there isn't any way in this life or the next one that I would ever seek to hurt either of you."

Emily closed her eyes, swallowing the emotion that came with knowing that, despite her advanced age and having five children of her own, she now had a father figure again for the first time in thirty-two years. She felt his arms embrace her anew, his lips placing a tender kiss on her temple as a single tear tracked down her cheek.

_Do you know, maybe having a father this late in life won't be so bad after all…_

New Section

Jordan stretched her arms up above her head and rolled her shoulders. Christmas Day was coming to a close and she was happily exhausted.

The day had started at five with Ben's over-excited, shrieking bomb run on their bed. It had taken several minutes for the shouting to become coherent enough for them to realise Ben had been down to see that the few smaller presents under the Christmas tree the day before had tripled overnight into a pile of massive gifts…and most of them had his name on them. Derek had shot her a cheeky smile right before he tickled his young son into an almost comatose, but extremely happy state, allowing them a few more minutes of cuddling into the warmth of the bed and each other before they had to get up.

Thankfully food had the same effect it always did on the toddler, completely distracting him long enough that they were able to enjoy their morning coffee in peace before the chaos of an active child tearing into wrapping paper turned their living room into an utter mess. They had spent the rest of the day convincing Ben that his new tricycle could not be ridden in the snow while they did their best to distract him with his other toys. Jordan was able to spend an hour stretched out on the couch with the new book Derek had bought for her while he helped Ben set up the new train set that required almost an entire room to house. She then got in on the action while Derek checked out thoroughly the new tool set she'd bought for when he was remodelling his many houses.

Then came the arguments and tantrums at the announcement that it was bed time. Now, two hours later, Jordan was ready for a private little celebration with her man, and an exchanging of their private gifts, the one gift they bought for the other's eyes only a tradition started the year before.

She closed their bedroom door and flopped down on her back on the bed, smiling up at her husband when he raised an inquiring eyebrow at her. "The little man finally down in the land of nod?"

She smiled happily. "Yes finally. I thought it was never going to happen."

"Sorry to leave that to you."

"Don't worry about it. I knew you wouldn't get another opportunity to speak with your mother and sisters today, so it wasn't a problem."

"They send their love to you."

She smiled again. "I love your family; they make me feel so welcome."

"Well they know I couldn't have scored better elsewhere."

"Darn straight!"

He chuckled softly and held a box over her face. With a soft squeal, she took it and sat up, turning to face him as she crossed her legs. Forcing her impatience down, she took a moment to lean over to the side table and open the drawer, pulling out a box which she in turn handed to him. They grinned at each other for a few seconds before they turned to unwrapping their gifts, making time to draw out the suspense as they did what they could to save the wrapping.

She gasped to realise the blue box unveiled by the removal of the paper had come from Tiffany & Co; the very thought that her husband might have gotten her something so elaborately expensive…

She pulled carefully at the perfect bow before sliding the lid off and moving the top layer of tissue paper aside. Then she just stared as she battled tears. The locket was heart shaped sterling silver, with an attached chain studded in tiny diamonds. The inscription on the locket read To My Beloved. Wondering if he had already put something on the inside, she carefully eased the locket out of the box and popped it open, smiling softly to see her favourite wedding photo – she was standing facing Derek, the two of them absolutely lost in each other as a shaft of sunlight lit them up – on the right hand side, and the most recent professional shot they'd had done of Ben on the left, when he had caught sight of her after she'd ducked out to make a purchase, and his entire face had lit up as he happily called out to her on her return.

She lifted her head to see Derek sitting with his box unopened, his eyes on her as he watched her reaction.

"It isn't too ostentatious is it?" he asked anxiously as he saw her battling tears.

She shook her head. "It's just beautiful Derek. Can the pictures be changed?"

"They can be changed as many times as you'd like. You don't like my choices?"

"No, they're just perfect Derek. Just, open my gift to you and then I'll explain."

He nodded, though he didn't look so happy now. She hated that she'd done that to him, but she also knew that he'd figure it out soon enough. She held her breath as he lifted the lid and carefully dug through the layers of tissue paper she'd put at the top, only to find another box underneath that one. He lifted his head and grinned at her.

"Cheeky minx."

She just smiled back, placing the locket around her neck carefully before lifting her knees and wrapping her arms around her legs. She rested her chin on her knees as he reached the third lid and rolled his eyes slightly. Then she just waited as he again dug through the tissue paper, this time reaching the end goal of her mini torture…and knowing it was worth it to see the look on his face as he realised what she meant.

"Is this what I think it is?"

"You know it is babe."

"When?"

"Sometime in August. Is that alright?"

"Oh yeah," he murmured softly as he carefully set the box off to the side and pulled her forward to straddle his lap. "That is definitely _more_ than alright."

He tunnelled his hands into her hair and kissed her hungrily as she shoved him back to the bed and started what would be a long night of celebration.

New Section

"I don't know which one of the three of you looks more tired," Dave said as he stopped in the doorway of his den. "Carrie I can understand, since she only has about nine or ten weeks to go. But what about the two of you?"

Emily didn't even bother opening her eyes. "Five kids for Christmas Dave; think about it. Especially since three of them are active enough to give every adult in the state a run for their money. And in fact, you might as well say six, since we were trying to keep Carrie's load as light as possible during this crazy-busy week of the year. So I'm not even going to bother explaining that further."

"So what's Jordan's excuse?" Dave asked as he stepped out of the way to allow the other adults to trickle in. The younger kids were all sound asleep now. Only Jack, Toby and Henry were being allowed to attempt to stay up for this years New Year's Eve countdown, so they were currently set up in the living room with some games and puzzles while the adults got to talk. He frowned to realise that he'd need more chairs unless Emily and Jordan moved as the entire team and their partners started arranging themselves on the available space. Carrie appeared to be asleep, and comfortable, so he certainly wasn't going to make her move.

"Who knows?" Emily mumbled sleepily in reply to Dave's question. "Someone tell me how long it is until midnight?"

Aaron grinned as he lifted her up and settled her on his lap once he'd taken a corner of the couch. "You have time for an hour long nap before I would need to wake you for the countdown."

"Yay…" she mumbled as she snuggled in to him and drifted off to sleep. He shot Derek a grin as his friend settled in to the other end of the seat with his own sleeping bundle.

"So, what _is_ Jordan's excuse? She's normally so full of energy?"

Derek grinned around at all of them. "Even the most energetic of women can lose that spark when they're creating new life."

"She's pregnant?" Penelope squeaked as it clicked in her mind.

Derek nodded happily and accepted the congratulations that were extended to him. "One of her Christmas gifts to me was a pair of intricate, hand made wool baby booties. I'm thinking of getting them framed they're so cute. Anyway, hopefully that explains to all of you why she is in here and sound asleep; I actually sent her in here to take a nap with the promise to wake her for the midnight countdown."

"Well then, let's toast," Dave said as he raised his glass. "To amazing family and friends, to first Christmases as new families, to surviving the week of Christmas, to new life growing as we speak and to the ending of this past year and the beginning of the new one."

"Here here," they all chorused, lifting their glasses and sharing a drink as the camaraderie and friendship wound even tighter, and laughter-filled conversations filled the air.

**End**

**A/N: Hope you liked this first chapter. The next one will be coming up soon.**

**Reviews are love and encouragement for faster typing and updates, and with the conveniently placed box right under these words they are easier than ever to leave. You don't even need to sign in, though I'd love to be able to thank you for your kind words. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Carrie's having a baby…**

**Reviews make you feel so good about yourself and what you are writing, so please think about leaving me one, even if you don't have an account on ffn, you're still incredibly appreciated. To those who do actually review faithfully, thank you so much for brightening up my life. To Wtiger5 and HGRHfan35, thank you seems so small and insignificant, but the emotion behind it is huge.**

**Thanks Wtiger5 for being on board with this…you really do make it all better than it was to start with. Love you muchly.**

**WARNING: This chapter is rated M due to the nature of what is to come.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me. And the list of those I do own is getting so incredibly long that I am just going to say that I own anyone who does not come directly from Criminal Minds.**

Chapter 2

March 2014

Jack looked around the living room of the house of their new school friend as Toby came to stand beside him and felt vaguely uneasy for some reason he couldn't figure out as he took in the very blonde haired and blue eyed features on the portraits lining the wall above the fireplace. Looking at the clock, he saw that they had only been there for an hour and it would be another eight before they were picked up.

Gabriel White was with his parents and sister praying at that moment. They had been invited to join in, but neither boy had felt comfortable with the idea, so they waited for him in this front room that felt so clean and sterile, he almost didn't want to sit down.

Toby moved closer and whispered, "I want to go home already. Why is that?"

"I don't know," Jack whispered just as softly as they heard voices coming closer.

They turned to see Gabriel walk back into the room, smiling at them in his friendly way. "Mum is bringing in morning tea for us and we'll all have a chat before we go outside to play. I'm so excited that there is sunshine outside today; I have a new toy I thought we could play with."

Both boys perked up a bit at that before sitting on the couch with Gabriel as his mum and sister walked into the room carrying a tray each. Then his father walked in and they all sat down. Jack was glad to see glasses of milk instead of cups of tea on the tray for them, though he wasn't too keen to see little sandwiches instead of the fruit he was used to having at this time of the morning. But remembering his mother's instructions on being a polite guest, he took a sandwich and said nothing about the lack of fruit as Gabriel's father asked them about what parts of school they liked.

"I like to play soccer," Toby said with considerable enthusiasm. "That's where I first met Gabriel."

Gabriel's father nodded approval and turned to look at Jack, who smiled shyly. "I love art, particularly drawing. I also play soccer, but I prefer to draw."

Toby didn't like the slight frowns of the family across from them so he jumped in quickly to defend his best friend. "Jack's teachers all say he has a real gift for art that they have never seen in someone so young."

Mr. White shook his head slightly and looked at his wife, who smiled pleasantly. "Have either of you boys travelled much?"

Jack shook his head, happy to change the subject. "No, not really. My family and I go out to the country every now and again to where my Grandma has a country home, but I haven't ever been out of the state."

"Toby?"

Toby was not liking how Jack was being treated based on the answers he was giving, but he too remembered to be polite. "Mum and I travelled a fair bit before we settled here in Virginia, but not out of the country. But Mum went to India where she met my Dad years before she had me and now they're talking about taking me there so I can see where my Dad is from. I'm very excited about this, because Jack might be coming with us."

"So your Dad spent a lot of time in India growing up?" Gabriel's older sister Sarah asked carefully.

Toby shook his head. "Nope, Dad is from India."

"Are you sure you don't mean that he just visited a lot or lived there for many years?"

Toby's enthusiasm on talking about his new father turned into a frown in the face of the frowns being directed at him. "No," he said slowly. "Dad is Indian, and has…"

"Oh dear, I don't think I'm feeling all that well," Mrs. White interrupted.

Toby stopped speaking and exchanged a confused look with Jack, who was just as confused about the sudden onset of illness Mrs. White had just mentioned. Gabriel jumped up to help his mother out of the room as Mr. White stood looking at them with his hands on his hips.

"You boys will need to contact your mothers to come and pick you up now. Come with me and we'll call them."

Not wanting to be rude, neither boy argued as they were led to the phone in the kitchen. The children had returned and now watched them closely as their father handed them the phone.

"We'll have to clean down the whole house after they go Dad," Sarah said with a slight edge to the tone of her voice as first Jack tried his parents, and then Toby called his father when Jack couldn't get through, both of them having to leave messages about what was happening. He hesitated before dialling his mother's number, hoping that she hadn't turned it off while she rested so that they could get out of this weird place yet at the same time hoping she had so that his call wouldn't wake her.

"Hello?"

He winced at the bleary voice he heard. "Mum? Sorry to wake you up, but Mrs. White isn't feeling well anymore and she needs me and Jack to be picked up."

"Jack and I," his mother corrected automatically, making him smile. "Did you call your father?"

"Yes, but it just went to voicemail. Jack even called his parents first, but the same thing happened. I didn't want to wake you, but they said that we needed to get picked up straight away."

She sighed tiredly. "It's not your fault sweetheart, I'm just so tired is all. I'll be there in just over an hour."

"Thanks Mum, we'll be ready to go when you get here."

"I appreciate that sweetheart. See you soon."

He hung up the call and turned to Mr. White. "My mum will be here to pick us up in about an hour."

The man nodded abruptly and herded them back into the living room, telling them to be quiet while they waited before they were left all alone.

"Jack, what's going on?" Toby whispered, confusion laced all through his voice.

Jack hesitated before speaking. "I'm not really sure. Do you remember that day we were out with Derek and Jordan and Ben at the park and we made friends with the kid on the swings? Then it started raining so the three of us ran for the shelter where the adults were waiting out of the rain and the boy introduced us to his mum. She was really nice to us until Derek and Jordan came up with Ben and then she grabbed her son and stalked off, even though it was still raining."

Toby nodded. "We asked what had happened and Derek said some people in the world won't like you cause of the colour of your skin or cause you believe or like something different from them. I didn't really understand it, cause what does that have to do with whether you are nice or not or whether you can be friends?"

"I didn't really understand it either. But I think that is happening here. I think they don't like that we are different and that Mirkal comes from a different country from them."

Sensing Toby's distress over the thought that he might have to choose between a new friend and his father, Jack moved closer and gave him a hug. Then they sat quietly and waited, trying hard not to fidget as they counted down the minutes until Carrie arrived.

New Section

Carrie's fury over the realisation that her son and 'her' Jack had been kicked out of a friend's house over the colour of her husband's skin completely pushed aside her exhaustion and nausea. Looking at the disgusted faces this family was pulling as they looked at her belly made her want to slap them, but she instead decided to take the higher ground.

"Do you know, I think that all of you lack something essential by limiting who you interact with and who you allow into your family. You're so white-bread that it makes me sick to think of my son and Jack having to interact with you further because there is absolutely nothing to the lot of you that I want either of them to pick up or learn from. I pity your narrow-mindedness and I pity you for what you won't get to experience because you are all so incredibly colour-blind. And I wish you all positions of little power in life where you find yourselves managed by people of colour, because at least they won't look at you as if you are worth nothing. Boys, let's go."

Wide-eyed with awe, Toby and Jack followed Carrie out of the house and to the car, climbing in to the back and doing up their seatbelts quickly as the woman turned on the car and gunned the engine in reverse, muttering to herself all the way.

"Of all the narrow-minded, inconsiderate, stupid, ridiculous…"

She stopped muttering at the realisation that she was repeating herself and concentrated on driving on the winding roads as the small town an hour away from the city fell away to be replaced by forest on both sides of the road. And because she was concentrating so intently on the road, the extremely powerful contraction that suddenly gripped her did little more than cause her to swerve slightly in her lane before she pulled the vehicle to the side of the road. She breathed deeply through the rest of the pain, grateful that it didn't last long considering how strong it was.

"Are you alright Mum?"

She opened eyes she hadn't even realised she'd closed and swallowed hard. If this was it and she wasn't able to get them back to the city, it was possible that one or both of the boys was going to get an incredible eyeful they didn't particularly need at such a young age. Pulling out her cell phone confirmed what she already knew.

"We're just going to sit here for a few minutes to see what hap…"

She whimpered at the feeling of her waters breaking as another contraction ripped through her body. The memory of her last labour mocked her; delivering Toby had been a nightmare of long hours and Vincent's flirting with every woman in sight while he picked at her inability to endure what her doctor had assured her was more than usual pain for a woman giving birth to a child. But as this contraction eased, she remembered that her baby's father loved her more than anything, and he loved her son as his own. Vincent had left her weak and vulnerable but the strength Mirkal imparted to her through his love and devotion meant that she'd never been stronger than she was right now. So even if she ended up having to deliver her daughter in this car, while they were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no reception, she _knew_, deep down where it mattered, that she _could_ do this…and everything would be alright.

She blew out the breath she'd been unconsciously holding and turned her head carefully to look at the two frightened boys in the back seat.

"I'm sorry boys, but I think I'm going to be having the baby in this car before too long. I'll call 911 and hopefully they will get here quickly; I'm just not sure they will be in time. I need you both to jump out of the backseat on my side of the car so I can lie down in the back. You can both stand behind the car and try to flag someone down to help me but if you move away from the car I swear…" her words petered off into a long groan and several panting breaths before she was able to finish her thought. "If either of you move away from the back of the car for any reason, I will skin you alive. Do you understand?"

They nodded and quickly got out of the car, helping her into the back. Jack pulled out his water bottle and offered it to her as she made her call to emergency services and stressed her need for immediate help as another contraction caused her to cry out in pain. They moved to the back of the car as Toby wrung his hands.

"What if something happens to my sister? There's no one to help Mum."

"We're here," Jack stated firmly, putting an arm around Toby's shoulders. He didn't feel that confident about being able to help, but he'd keep Toby calm and he'd do his best to help if it came to that. And since his mother said it was always a good idea to pray in a tricky situation, he thought he should probably do that too.

New Section

Emily checked her watch briefly before slowing for the upcoming curve in the road and winced as she realised what the time was. She'd gotten Jack's message just as she was leaving the girls for the play date with their new friends from day care, but that had been almost an hour and a half ago. She didn't know if anyone else was on the way to collect the boys, since no one else was picking up their calls, and she could only hope that the Whites were okay with keeping an eye on them a little bit longer.

Slowing further for a particularly sharp curve in the road, she very briefly checked the babies in the backseat to see that they were sound asleep. Focusing again on the road as the car eased around the bend, she frowned to see Carrie's car sitting along the side of the road and no one in sight.

"What on earth…" she murmured softly as she pulled over. She didn't really want to leave the boys in the car, but a scream from the other side of the road had her turning off the engine quickly and locking the car behind her as she bolted to the other side of the road.

Noting the direction of the vehicle, she was relieved to see Jack, and slightly amused at how relieved he was to see her. She gave him a quick hug and handed him the keys.

"Your brothers are sleeping in the back seat. Where's Toby?" Jack pointed towards the backseat and she nodded. "I'll send him over with you while I help Carrie, but I need the both of you to keep an eye on the boys. Okay?"

He nodded vigorously as she moved up behind Toby, who was so tense that her hand on his shoulder caused him to let out a short scream as he fell backwards towards her. She caught him before he hit the ground and gave him a hug as he burst into tears. Catching Carrie's gaze on her, she sent her friend a reassuring smile before she gave Toby one last squeeze.

"It's alright sweetheart. Jack's gone over to look after Micah and James, so you should go and help him. I'll stay here and make sure everything is alright with your mother and sister. Okay?"

He nodded tearfully and wiped his nose before walking carefully around the car and after checking both ways, bolted across to the larger vehicle and disappeared inside. Then she crouched down and peered in at Carrie.

"Having fun?" she asked cheerfully, laughing softly when Carrie swore at her. "Ah, like that I see. Well, I can certainly help you out with that. Do you mind if I take your underwear off so I can see what is happening?"

"I'll tell you what's frigging happening. I had Toby with my first husband breathing down my neck and making my life a living damn hell. Now I'm having this baby and my idiotic husband isn't even present! I mean…"

Emily nodded at appropriate moments and made soft, soothing noises as she assessed the situation and realised that they didn't really have that long to wait. Tuning Carrie's words out, she remembered the instructions that had been given to them months ago when she was having her babies at home due to the mix-up with the ambulances. Certain she was as ready as she was ever going to be, she interrupted Carrie's tirade about the stupidity of men in general and her beloved husband in particular.

"Carrie," she snapped, stopping the younger woman mid-word. "Shut up and push. Go!"

New Section

"Dad!"

Mirkal turned towards his son's shout and caught the boy as he barrelled in to him. The knowledge that he'd been crying registered briefly, but more worrying was that he couldn't see his wife waiting for him in the hall. He could see Emily, dressed in scrubs and with a baby feeding while Jack held the other one, but he couldn't see Carrie anywhere.

Aaron was right behind him as they walked down the hall, Toby now wrapped around him with his face buried in his shoulder.

"Where's Carrie?" he demanded, wincing slightly at the unexpected harshness of his tone. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. Only I got a garbled message that she was having the baby…"

"That boat has been and gone, my friend," Emily said cheerfully and pointed to the opening across the hall. "Go on in and meet your daughter."

He blinked in shock. "But I thought…can I take Toby in with me?"

Emily's smile gentled. "If you can get him to go in with you. When I arrived, Carrie was screaming in pain and cursing like a sailor, as only a woman giving birth to new life can do. He was determined to help her despite his worry that he'd somehow done something wrong, but the second he saw me, he burst into tears and has refused to go near her for fear he'll get yelled at again. I don't blame him, because she was pretty bad, but Carrie's distressed because she has enough recollection to know what she said to Toby and she can't even apologise to him because he won't go near her."

Mirkal nodded slowly as he finally understood why Toby was so tense in his arms. "So maybe we need to just take a seat out here and wait a little bit," he stated calmly as he took a couple of easy steps towards Carrie's partially open door. Aaron quickly eased it the rest of the way open, shooting Carrie a mouthed 'Congratulations' before stepping out of the way. "Then, when you're feeling better about it, we can go in together," Mirkal finished as he rubbed Toby's back in comfort and stepped through the door, Aaron pulling it silently closed behind him. "How does that sound."

Toby mumbled something unintelligible as Mirkal sought to contain his joy as he took in his beautiful ladies, one of whom slept soundly in her mother's arms and the other who watched him anxiously as he eased down to sit on the side of the bed. He kept one arm securely around Toby while the other hand reached out to gently caress first Carrie's creamy soft cheek, then his daughter's beautiful little face.

"You tricked me," Toby said softly as he stiffened again.

Mirkal looked down to see the boy's accusing green eyes looking up at him. "Yes I did, but you needed to see for yourself that your mother isn't mad at you, and she needed the chance to explain to you what happened out there and to tell you she is sorry."

Toby continued to study him suspiciously for a moment before he squirmed round to face his mother, who shot him a small smile.

"Toby, I am so incredibly sorry for what I said to you out there in the car beside the road. Do you remember when I told you about how much having a baby can hurt, despite the fact that it is all worth it because I had you in the end to hold and to love?" She waited until Toby nodded before continuing. "That is exactly what happened with your little sister. Some women just feel their pain very intensely, and I am one of them. And I express that pain in some not-so-nice ways. I can't take back what I said, but I can assure you that I wasn't even _slightly_ mad at you. In fact, I was very proud of you because you didn't run away from me when I needed the help, even though I was saying horrible things to you."

Toby nodded. "You always tell me off when I swear. But when I tried telling you off, you just screamed at me. You scared me," he finished in a whisper as he hunched in on himself.

Carrie nodded sadly. "I know I did Toby, and again I'm so very sorry for that. All I can promise is that you were never in trouble before and you are not in trouble now. If you repeat anything I said out there in the car, you will be very sorry you did, but I wasn't mad at you then and I'm not mad at you now. Does that make sense?"

Toby nodded slowly and shifted closer. "Is that my little sister?"

Carrie kept her sigh of relief to herself as she nodded. "If you stay where you are, I'm just about to hand her over to Mirkal to hold, so you can be really close to her."

Toby thought about it as Carrie handed her daughter over to the man who hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her. She almost laughed to realise he was holding his breath as she settled against him, but then Toby shifted closer to her, angling for a hug and she was more than happy to oblige him as she remembered the hurt look in his eyes the last few times he'd glanced at her.

So she ended up cuddling her son while her husband bonded with his daughter. She was still holding Toby minutes later when he tipped his head back to look at her.

"What are we calling her? I can't just call her sister."

Carrie dropped a kiss on his temple and shifted his weight slightly. "Your father and I discussed this. We wanted a name that seemed American, and yet was also used in India. So we have decided to name her Alisha Noelle Renhwah."

"So we'll all have the same last name?"

Carrie smothered a smile in her son's hair as Mirkal nodded. "Is that alright with you?"

Toby nodded vigorously before frowning. "I know everyone says that I shouldn't hate people, but I think I hate Gabriel and his family."

Mirkal tipped his head to the side. "You'd be right in that it isn't nice to hate people. Why is it that you hate them Toby?"

"They suddenly didn't like us 'cause you come from India and your skin is different to ours and you're my father."

Mirkal smiled sadly. "I'm sorry that the colour of my skin made your new friend not like you anymore. Do you want to know something important?"

Toby's sadness disappeared as he nodded, his eyes growing wide at the thought of being let in on something big.

"The fact that they chose not to like you because you don't have a problem with the colour of my skin just means that they are missing out on something hugely amazing. Because I love you and your mum and your little sister like crazy."

"Crazier than them not liking you even though they never met you?"

"Crazier even than that. So you should pity them for what they are missing out on, and still try to be friends with Gabriel. You may never be able to change his mind because that is how his parents are bringing him up. But just maybe if you are still his friend even after what he did, maybe someday he'll change. And that can only make him a better person. Do you understand?"

Toby nodded his understanding and held out his arms. Mirkal thought he wanted to hold his little sister until he shook his head with his eyes fixed firmly on his father's face. So Carrie took Alisha back and Mirkal wrapped Toby up in a fierce hug.

And just like the emotion that had swamped him when he held his little girl in his arms for the first time, hearing his son say, "I love you Daddy, and I don't care what colour your skin is," filled him with such love and pride in equal measure as he returned the sentiment and shared it out across his whole family, that he was left with such a sense of completeness and of utter contentment for the first time in his life.

**End**

**Reviews are love and encouragement for faster typing and updates, and with the conveniently placed box right under these words they are easier than ever to leave. You don't even need to sign in, though I'd love to be able to thank you for your kind words. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'd like to have a decent excuse for my recent long absence, but I really don't. RL just got in the way and then got taken over by a reading phase. This phase is still going, but will hopefully be more balanced now. Apologies to everyone who has been waiting so patiently for this update.**

**Reviews give life to my imagination and make it soar, and I would like to thank all of you who have left a review to chapters in this story. Thanks to Hazmatt (chappies 1 & 2), HGRHfan35, Daisyangel and Wtiger5 for letting me know what you thought of the second chapter. I really do appreciate you all. **

**Wtiger5, thank you for your friendship, your patience and your love. I couldn't ask for a better friend and beta.**

**WARNING: This chapter is rated K+.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me. And the list of those I do own is getting so incredibly long that I am just going to say that I own anyone who does not come directly from Criminal Minds.**

Chapter 3

June 2014

"Well look who's back in the pen," Derek drawled as Emily walked through the doors for the first time in just over two years with her go bag slung over her shoulder.

Emily just grinned, used to the comments already despite only being back at work for just over ten minutes. She set her bag down on the floor and nudged it under her desk with her foot as she frowned at her desk and all the work in a messy sprawl across the surface.

"Hotch said I was getting my desk back?"

"You are," JJ said warmly as she approached. "Esther is currently in with Hotch and Strauss in some top-secret hush-hush meeting we probably aren't even supposed to know about, otherwise it would have been pristine for your arrival. She'll be pretty mortified to realise you got back before she cleared it; the guys have turned you into a legend around here."

Before Emily could say anything, Strauss stepped out of Hotch's office and walked toward them.

"Agent Prentiss-Hotchner."

"Ma'am."

Strauss studied her in silence for a moment before smiling slightly. "Welcome back. I trust that you will be taking some time to settle back in before you have another baby or receive any fresh injuries?"

Realising that she was joking, Emily grinned. "Trust me ma'am, I am very much looking forward to being active again, so I will be guarding my health to the very best of my ability."

"Glad to hear that. You should all head up to the conference room; Agent Hotchner will need to see you all privately as soon as he is finished with Agent Santoro."

They watched her walk away with some trepidation before they made their way up to the conference room. Seating themselves around the table, there were several moments of silence before several of them started speaking all at once. They laughed together, a question was asked and the conversation carried them through until Hotch walked in to the room behind Esther.

"You're all either psychic or Strauss told you to come up here and wait for me."

While most of the group chorused, "psychic", Reid stated that Strauss had tipped them off, causing several of them to throw little bits of paper at him. The hilarity of the moment quickly died down as Hotch and Esther took the remaining two seats.

"I have no doubt that you all noticed that Strauss came for a visit. What she said was surprising, despite knowing that something like this was bound to happen."

"The suspense is killing us," Dave drawled to the laughter of the whole team.

Hotch smiled just slightly and looked around at everyone to make sure they were paying attention before speaking. "Esther was brought in as a maternity replacement, but the real nature of her assignment was assessing our capabilities as a team to work together and to overcome everything that we have been through over the last few years."

Most of the group was frowning as Emily asked slowly, "Do you mean we have been under a long-term psych evaluation? Without our knowledge?"

"Essentially, yes," Hotch confirmed.

Several long minutes of silence followed this announcement before Kelly asked carefully, "So how did we do?"

Hotch grinned. "Surprising as it is for all the crap we've been through, we did remarkably well. Esther?"

She stood up slowly. "I know you all probably hate me, and I can easily understand that animosity after keeping such a huge secret from you. You probably won't believe me, but there was absolutely nothing personal to me coming in to this assignment. I had heard of your team before, heard of your camaraderie and closeness to each other that somehow increased the success of your team to bring down the bad guys, and I honestly didn't think that I would find anything worth reporting that wasn't already well known. And I was right. The report I've submitted says that there is nothing new to report and you're all doing fine."

Hotch stood as well. "I know this is quite a shock for all of you, but I can assure you that it will be business as usual with one major change. Team C has been disbanded. I can't share why, but it means that our workload will be increasing. My gratefulness over the timing of having Emily, JJ and Penelope return to us can't really be put into words; having such experience come back to the fold is a great relief. But the amount of work we are soon to take on meant that I needed to push for more, which I was granted to my great surprise.

"In addition to our original team, I have been granted two additional agents and an additional tech to assist with the increased workload we will all soon be feeling. Kelly, you are invited to join this team on an ongoing, contract based basis until further notice. The choice is entirely yours, but I hope you will accept the offer."

Kelly grinned, her relief clear to everyone. "I'm thrilled by the knowledge that I don't need to leave. Yes, of course I accept the offer."

"Good," Hotch replied. "The other spot has already been offered to, and accepted by Esther. Despite being new to the BAU, she has proven to be a quick learner and an extremely competent field agent who isn't afraid to take on the tough or dirty jobs. I know this may not seem fair to some of you in light of Esther's previous dual assignment, but she has my confidence in her abilities as a member of this team, and my understanding of the necessity of getting such an assessment as she has completed done and out of the way."

He gave them all a moment to think before he continued. "Penelope, Mirkal has done an extremely good job at filling your shoes while you were away, so I have requested that he be assigned to work with you." Penelope nodded agreement and smiled at Mirkal, now understanding why he was still with them and happy to be working with him, though she'd much rather have Kevin.

"Because we are now down a team until a new team is formed, we can all expect to be overloaded with cases. Now that we have a team of eight full-time agents and two techs, we'll be trialling something new for the next few cases to see how things work out. We'll be splitting into two teams of four, based on experience and skills, and working two cases at the same time, with one tech assigned to each team. If after these initial two cases we find that it isn't working out, we'll go back to working as one team, but I hope that it does work because I don't want JJ to have to start turning people away because we can't keep up with the work. I also want to be able to see my family on a semi-regular basis and I'm pretty certain that you would all agree with that."

He waited for everyone to nod before looking at Esther. "You said you had one last thing to get off your chest before it slips out later to bite you?"

She nodded slowly. "I feel like I should make for the door already and I haven't even revealed this yet." She took in a deep breath of air as they looked at her expectantly. "Okay, please don't shoot the messenger, but my aunt told me that I can now reveal her identity to you. Erin Strauss, your section chief, is my mother's sister. I can also reveal to all of you, Hotch included, that Emma Marks is my sister. For those of you looking at me blankly, Emma was the other agent to apply for my position, the one who dresses like a hooker and came on to just about everything male on this floor. Hopefully you won't hold that against me, just as I don't hold it against all of you who call my aunt the 'dragon lady'."

Derek cleared his throat and asked carefully, "Is your sister always like that?"

"Unfortunately yes. She had a very active interest in boys from the age of twelve and as a grown up that sadly hasn't changed. Being able to claim a different surname thanks to my marriage is a blessing I can't begin to describe."

"Any questions?" Hotch asked the group at large. When no one responded, he reached for the first of the two piles of files stacked on the desk in front of him. "The first team will be going to Chicago with Morgan in charge. Esther, Emily and Reid will be going with you. We'll leave you here to brief with Penelope. Mirkal, you'll be helping JJ, Kelly, Dave and myself on a case in Georgia. We'll head down to my office to debrief. Any questions now?"

New Section

Emily groaned softly as childish giggles invaded her quiet moment. After three days non-stop working in Chicago to find a vicious child killer she was exhausted. It hadn't helped that she'd spent the last hour running the children around the backyard before Aaron arrived home straight from the airport and the case he had been heading up. He'd taken the time to change quickly, before coming out to find her. A quick, heated kiss later and he was shooing her inside to take a few minutes to herself while he reconnected with the youngest members of his family. Emily had walked inside with relief and ended up lying flat on her back in the darkened living room while she tried not to fall asleep before dinner.

No sleep now, not for you anyway.

She cracked an eyelid, taking in the scene around her. The girls were trying to sneak up on her, their little brothers crawling eagerly in their wake. Amusement filled her as she realised that her one year old babies were being quieter than their two year old sisters, who had much more practice at sneaking around. She watched their progress until they were right beside her and then she rose up with a fake roar and gathered them all in for tickles as they squealed with laughter. Aaron leaned against the doorframe and watched his wife disappear under a pile of laughing, wriggling bodies as the older boys joined in.

Mirkal walked up and smiled. He had Alisha on his shoulder, who was peering around her at everything that caught her eye. Aaron grinned at the baby and lightly tickled her chin, making her squirm slightly. He nodded his head at the kids in the living room.

"They've grown too accustomed to having her around all the time. Carrie was just telling me that she had a hard time keeping them in line while we were away."

"I don't think I'm surprised to hear that," Mirkal said softly. "The way they've been clingy since you both got home told its own story. They'll get used to you both being gone again for some of the time. Having you both on different teams was a great idea though; there's a greater likelihood of at least one of you being home when the other isn't in addition to the times you're both here."

"Good point," he said just as the doorbell rang. He started to move towards it, but Carrie brushed his arm lightly to keep him in place as she went by. "I often wish now that I didn't have such a high-travel, stressful job but at the same time, I can't cease being who I am."

"No one…"

"Sean!"

Mirkal stopped speaking as they turned to see Aaron's younger brother standing just on the other side of the front door.

Aaron grinned in delight as he headed in that direction. He had last seen Sean about a year ago when the team was in New York on a case. He'd taken the weekend after they caught the unsub to catch up with his brother and his brother's wife Hannah, having been reminded that it had at that stage been about a year and a half since his brother had gotten married. Experiencing their happiness and getting to know Hannah better had been worth the scolding Emily had given him for leaving her out of it. After all, she'd reasoned, she hadn't seen them either since their wedding on a stunning Hawaiian beach.

At least now Emily will get to see them.

He walked rapidly to his brother as Carrie stepped back out of the way and hugged him tight. Sean's grip was overly tight and it was to his great shock that he realised his brother had started crying.

Long minutes passed as Sean sobbed like a baby while Aaron worried over what might be so wrong as to bring his brother to his doorstep. Carrie and Mirkal had shooed the kids off to dinner, while Emily waited patiently beside them, one hand on her husband's shoulder and the other gently rubbing Sean's back.

When the sobbing eased and his brother's hold loosened a bit, Aaron gently touched the side of Sean's head. "Why don't you come inside and you can tell us what's going on."

"I don't need to come inside to do that," Sean whispered brokenly. "Hannah's dead."

Emily rocked back in shock and Aaron's jaw dropped. "What?" they chorused.

Sean hiccupped. "My wife is dead. An allergic reaction to some weird seafood that no one knew about until they did the autopsy."

Aaron urged Sean inside as Emily pulled the door closed. "When did this happen?" she asked gently.

Sean dropped onto the couch in the living room with a heavy sigh. "A week ago."

"Man, you should called us; we would have come out straight away," Aaron declared as he tried to wrap his head around what was going on. "When's the funeral?"

"It was yesterday. You want to know why I didn't call you to come out there? Because Hannah's parents weren't happy with me. Of course, they lied to Hannah and to everyone 'cause they wanted their little girl to be happy, but they told me after they got over accusing me of killing her that they had never approved. They wanted someone richer for their only child. Hannah left me everything, so they can't by rights take that away from me, but they can and did ban me from going to her funeral. I spent yesterday morning on the outskirts of the cemetery looking on from a distance and the afternoon sitting at her newly erected gravestone crying. Then today I actually remembered that I had a family here and so I got on a plane and here I am." He dropped his head back against the couch and asked huskily, "What am I going to do without her?"

Emily left Aaron with his brother and walked into the kitchen with a heavy tread. The younger kids kept eating, but Jack, Toby, Carrie and Mirkal all looked up at her. She pulled up a smile from somewhere and reassured the boys before gesturing Carrie to follow her out of the room.

"Sean's going to be staying with us for a bit. His wife died last week."

"Hannah's dead?" Carrie asked in shock as she remembered the sweet young woman married to her employer's younger brother.

"Yes. Turns out her parents are money-hungry and nasty and never approved of their daughter's choice of partner. Sean's been turned away from the funeral and the support of her family and friends."

Carrie shook her head tiredly. "People never cease to amaze me. I'll help you get the spare room set up."

New Section

Several days had passed since Sean's arrival. Spending time with children who adored him had been the balm Sean needed to find a little peace and knowing he was welcome for as long as he needed to stay had helped further. The realisation that they would all be home over the weekend and not on a case had led to the suggestion of doing a little memorial for Hannah so that Sean could hopefully find his turning point. Of course, mentioning it at the office had turned something small and family-only into something bigger.

The memorial was planned for a nearby beach because hannah's love for the sand between her toes and the rhythmic pounding of the waves against the shore was second only to her love for her husband and their home together. Sean would try to say a few words, though Aaron had already said that he could say something of the sister-in-law he had known for such a short period of time if the need arose. Derek and Emily had found a few verses and songs to be spoken and sung. In place of roses on a coffin, they were releasing roses off a nearby cliff a short walk from the sandy beach below. Then Dave and Teresa were opening up their home for a short wake, while everyone else contributed something to eat or drink.

Sean had initially loved the idea, though he wasn't so sure when they arrived at the beach to find everyone there, all dressed up but with bare feet. The ladies were in dresses, the men in slacks and shirts and the children wore their best summer fare. He turned a look on his brother and sister-in-law, both of whom held a baby in one arm.

"What?" Emily smiled in amusement. "This was the smallest group we could manage. Everyone wanted to come to support you. Turns out you Hotchners are extremely popular and well-loved."

Sighing softly as the inevitability of it all overwhelmed him, he gestured for his family to continue on.

A short time later, Sean watched as two dozen roses gently bobbed in the blue tinted water that Hannah had loved so much. He couldn't help but smile softly as the warm sunshine bathed his grieving soul and lifted his spirits. Just as the tide would always ebb and flow, his wife would always be in his heart and memories and not even her parents could take that from him.

As the group around him turned to walk back to the carpark, he felt Hannah surrounding him for a just a moment, a breathe in time that let him feel her peace and joy even in death. Knowing that she was happy, even though she had been taken from him so quickly, allowed him to whisper his goodbyes before he too turned away from the water, and set out to find his future.

**End**

**A/N: Again, I apologise for how long it has taken me to get this one out. You will be happy to know the next chapter has already been written and just needs to be edited, so you should see another instalment in just a week or so depending on RL with my beta and with me.**

**Reviews are love and encouragement for faster typing and updates, and with the conveniently placed box right under these words they are easier than ever to leave. You don't even need to sign in, though I'd love to be able to thank you for your kind words.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here it is, as promised, so soon after the last chapter. And considering my July is shaping up to be just a touch manic, I am intending to churn out as many chapters as I can over the next 5 weeks just to make up for the time I will be most likely absent.**

**I love reviews, and as you can see, they are here from the start this time instead of being remembered a day late like the last post. My thanks to those still with me after my absence; Daisyangel, Hazmatt, HGRHfan35 and Wtiger5.**

**My Beta, my sister, what can I say that I haven't already? You totally make my work better. Love you lots.**

**WARNING: This chapter is rated M due to some steam and some violence.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me. And the list of those I do own is getting so incredibly long that I am just going to say that I own anyone who does not come directly from Criminal Minds.**

Chapter 4

July 2014

"Will you stop fidgeting?"

Derek jumped slightly at Emily's voice and looked up. "I can't help it. Jordan saw the doctor yesterday and he said that it was possible that the new baby might come early. And now that she only has four weeks to go, it's all getting more real. What if she has the baby while I am away? I was there for Ben's delivery and I want to make sure to be there for this one too."

Emily shook her head slightly. "That's very sweet Derek, really it is, but your phone is so loud there is no way you would miss even a text message, so please just put it back on your belt and leave it there."

He shot her a sheepish smile as Hotch walked toward them. They were in Phoenix Arizona, investigating Langley Woods, a prominent state attorney who had lost his wife just over a year ago in similar circumstances to the deaths of three women in the past two weeks. Though that first murder had occurred in Boston and he had been cleared of the crime back when it had been investigated, he was again under suspicion as the last man to have seen all three women alive.

The team was back together to work this case; too many players had stacked up against the escalation period and the powers that be had decided to bring the full weight of the team to crack the case before too many more women died. It hadn't helped that the gut feeling from several members of the team after the revision of the original case file had Langley Woods being set up for crimes he hadn't committed. After a day spent investigating every angle they could think of, everyone was feeling rather edgy about this case.

"9-1-1 just received a call of a woman's body found dead in circumstances that scream of our unsub's handiwork. I'll leave everyone else on what they're currently doing. The two of you will accompany me to the crime scene."

"You don't want me to go with Kelly to interview Woods?" Emily asked, referring to the assignment he had started to task her with before being called into the Captain's office.

"I do, but we can put that off until later. For now I want your experienced eyes on the fresh crime scene."

"You could always send Esther or JJ with Kelly," Derek suggested as they climbed into the SUV.

"No. I want experience to talk to the man, which I get by sending Emily. I also get her wedding ring."

"Huh?" they both chorused.

Hotch smiled briefly as Derek manoeuvred them through heavy traffic. "The reports say that Woods isn't picky, that he'll flirt with anything female. Though married herself, Kelly doesn't openly wear her wedding ring and thus gives the impression that she is single. Whereas Emily wears her wedding band for all to see. I want to see if he'll single Kelly out if he encounters them together or if the reports are accurate. I'd also really like to know if this is new, or if he always flirted like that even when he was married, but since I can't examine the past, I'll settle for evaluating the present."

"What will that prove?" Derek asked.

"If Woods flirts with both women, he proves that he really will flirt with a married woman. Not all women are faithful to their husbands…"

"You think he had an affair with a married woman and now a husband might be trying to set him up to go to jail as payment," Emily stated confidently.

"It's certainly one theory I've had. I'll get the others working on different scenarios while you and Kelly follow up this one for me. Just do me a favour and be extra vigilant and careful while you're around him and until you return to us. I really don't want to have to take a call that either of you was attacked."

"You could just send all the girls in…safety in numbers and all that jazz," Derek said as he pulled the car off to the side of the road near the barricade that had been set up around the latest crime scene.

"Don't think I'm not tempted to do so," Hotch muttered for his ears only as they exited on the driver's side of the vehicle.

New Section

"What do you make of him?" Kelly asked curiously as they walked back to their vehicle after their first meeting with Langley Woods.

"He is a ridiculously handsome guy with great fashion sense and meticulous hygiene. If you remove his arrogant assurance that all women regardless of marital status will fall at his feet for the chance to be bedded by him, I think he might actually be a nice guy. But he _is_ an arrogant little prick, so he lost all points even before we'd gotten in the door. Despite that, I don't think he's our unsub."

Kelly sighed. "After fending off his hands for the last hour, I hate to admit that I agree with you. But I think you may be right. He's too neat and tidy, with everything in its proper place. And the timing of that last murder? There's absolutely no way he could have gotten from work to the scene in time, not with the times Reid gave us for his conversation with the security guard and parking lot swipe."

Emily sighed heavily. "Someone's setting him up to look guilty. I don't suppose it is a crime in this state when a man grabs a woman's ass is it?" When Kelly shook her head glumly, Emily muttered, "I need a shower and half a bottle of body wash."

Kelly sent her a consoling look from behind the wheel. "I hear you there. Do you think we could get away with going straight to the hotel before reporting in?"

Emily pulled out her phone as it beeped at her and grinned. "God I love my husband. He's calling it a day and says we should make our way to the hotel for the night instead of returning to work to report."

Kelly checked the clock. "It's rather early to stop isn't it?"

"We've been going for close to two days. We'll find we start missing things soon if we haven't already. Sleep tonight and come back with fresh eyes tomorrow."

"Don't mind me; I'd kill for a shower right now myself."

They exchanged amused smiles and lapsed into a companionable silence for the rest of the trip. Emily had just finished drying herself off after an extremely hot shower that had depleted what little body wash she had when she heard her husband out in the main room. Not even hesitating to leave the sleepwear she had been about to put on behind, she dropped the towel on the bathroom floor and opened the door.

"How did it go?" Aaron asked without turning from where he was crouched down in front of the mini fridge.

"If you remember the guy who tried to pick me up on that case in Atlanta back when Jordan was working with us, and I tell you this was ten times worse, can you take that as the answer for now and press for details later?"

He stood and turned with a frown on his face that dissipated the second he caught sight of her.

"Your skin's all pink," he said in a choked voice as he moved toward her.

"Yours would be too if you'd spent an hour with a man constantly trying to feel you up who actually managed it in the end. I'm out of body wash now, so if I start to smell funny, you know where to point your finger."

"We can share the showers from now until the rest of the case if you like," he said as he reached her.

She grabbed him and shoved him up against the wall. "Works for me," she murmured before hauling him in for a kiss with a growl.

He growled back and slid his hands down to her butt, where he squeezed hard even as his fingers brushed against her already drenched folds.

"Hurry up and get naked," she snarled at him as she grabbed his crotch and squeezed firmly. "I need _this_ in me so badly right now I can't even put it into words."

She backed up from him and walked to the bed as he started yanking at his clothes. She settled back against the pillows she mounded up, lifted her knees and let them fall apart as he all but ran the few feet between them. His first thrust in met with just enough resistance that he hesitated but she grabbed his hips, urged him back and then yanked him down again.

"Don't think," she hissed in his ear. "Just move."

"Yes ma'am."

New Section

"So are we all convinced that Woods is innocent?" Dave asked seriously of the group sitting or standing around the conference room.

"Apart from the fact that he's a womanising slimebag, yes we are."

Everyone chuckled and smiled at Kelly's tongue in cheek reply.

"The question then becomes, who did it?" Reid asked. "Derek and I have been working on a theory we aren't quite ready to discuss yet which might help us figure that out."

"Why not mention is now?" JJ asked.

The two men exchanged a look and shrugged. Derek explained, "The boy genius isn't at all convinced and I'm only partway there to thinking it is anything worth pursuing. We're hoping to have an answer either way in an hour or so, depending on when Garcia gets back to us."

"Keep it to yourselves then, but don't be afraid to pull more help or share it if you need to," Hotch said firmly. "Now, I've read these interviews so many times that I needed fresh eyes on them, so I had Reid go through them and he found a few inconsistencies that I want to follow up at Woods' workplace. JJ, Esther and Rossi, the three of you will come with me to assist. Kelly and Em, I want you to return to Langley Woods' home. I know it wasn't pleasant the first time around, and it probably won't be any easier this time, but I'm hoping he might be a lot more forthcoming with information now that we _know_ he is being framed."

The girls sighed in resignation even as they nodded agreement and the group as a whole moved to conduct their assignments.

Kelly waited until they were in the car before muttering, "If he grabs me today, I'm probably going to get him where the sun doesn't shine."

Emily smiled. "I was fantasizing about doing that to him anyway after the last time." She checked her watch. "What time does he leave work?"

Kelly flicked a quick look at the clock on the dashboard. "About now, so he should be getting there around the time we arrive. And even if he isn't there, we can always have a little chat with Candice and see if she will give us any information without her father being present."

Emily thought back to Langley's fifteen year old daughter that they had met briefly yesterday. Remembering the animosity in the girl's eyes as she looked at them before she walked out of the room, she shook her head. "I doubt we'll get anything out of her. She's too angry at us for suspecting her father."

Kelly shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see then."

New Section

"Talk to me gorgeousness."

"Does your wife know you still flirt with me on a daily basis?"

"As much as your husband knows you still flirt with me," Morgan said with a grin as he imagined Penelope's saucy smile.

"Good point. Are you ready for me to rock your world baby?"

"Rock away."

"I harried the technicians taking their time with our unknown sample and I finally made them sick enough of my dulcet tones to get me an answer quick-smart. The red-tinted sample JJ swabbed from the back of the ear of the latest victim is saliva."

"Enough for a DNA match?"

"Uh huh."

"You're going to make me beg, aren't you, you slinky little sneak."

"Oh yes, cause we both _know_ you love to beg."

He grinned as Reid returned from the bathroom and raised an eyebrow at him. "Begging now mama."

New Section

Hotch pulled out his phone as it rang and briefly checked the display. "Go ahead Reid, we're all here."

Reid's excited voice filled the car. "Candice Woods is the unsub."

"What?" they all chorused in shock.

"I thought we were looking for a jealous husband or partner," Esther said carefully.

"So did I. But Morgan was looking at the sample JJ found behind victim four's ear and wanted to know what it was. He said he was wondering if we were looking for a male at all, that there were a few things that weren't adding up. He just didn't want to pursue it too far if the sample didn't amount to anything important. So he had Garcia follow up with the lab and they said that it was saliva with a trace of lipstick in it. Enough to prove who the saliva belonged to and what brand and shade the lipstick was."

"The viciousness of those attacks would not have led me to think it was a woman at all, let alone a teenager. Females generally don't kill in such a way; it's far too messy. Do we have any other proof?" Dave asked reasonably.

"Have the girls been notified?"

"Morgan was going to be calling them while I phoned you."

"Tell them…"

"Hotch, look out!" Dave shouted as the girls screamed in the backseat.

New Section

Morgan looked up as Reid actually cursed.

"What was that for kid?"

Reid ignored him as he lifted his phone back up to his ear. "Garcia I need you to find any or all of the phone signals for Hotch, Rossi, JJ or Esther. I think they've been in an accident."

Morgan's eyes went wide, but he followed Reid toward the door immediately as he waited for an answer. "Thanks Garcia. I'll get back to you once I know anything."

"What happened?" Morgan demanded.

"I was updating them on what you'd discovered when Rossi called to Hotch to look out. I could hear the girls screaming in the backseat and then what sounded like an extremely loud impact, with crumpling metal and shattering glass. The phone got dropped somewhere in the middle of it and then the call got disconnected."

Morgan swore now too. "I'm assuming you know where we're going?"

Reid nodded. "Yes, and you're driving."

"Glad we don't need to have that discussion."

New Section

Kelly rang the bell at the Woods residence and half hoped that no one would be home so they wouldn't have to deal with Langley a second time so soon after the first time. She was out of luck though, as they hadn't been waiting long before it opened up to reveal Candice standing there and looking sullen.

"Dad isn't home, come back later."

Emily stopped the door from slamming in their faces and smiled. "That's alright. We could have a bit of chat with you while we wait if that's okay with you? You see, we know your father didn't murder your mother, or those other three women. We're hoping that either he or you could help us to figure out who would want to frame your father for murder and why." When Candice just stared at them blankly, Emily pressed firmly on the door. "We'll just wait in the living room. We know your dad shouldn't be too long before he gets here. We'd love it if you could help us, but we do understand that you might be angry with us for suspecting your father in the first place. You don't have to sit with us if you don't want to, just let us in."

Candice glared at them another moment before turning and stalking away from the door. She disappeared quickly up the stairs, leaving the two agents to make their way to the living room by themselves.

Emily wandered over to the cabinet that ran the length of the far wall and was absolutely covered in photos that clearly ran in order from the earliest years of the family to more recent photos that showed only a father and daughter trying to cope with their new life. She studied each photo in turn, ignoring Kelly's ringing phone as something about the more recent photos niggled at her.

"Hey Morgan, what's up?"

She had almost figured out what was bothering her when Kelly demanded, "Are you sure?"

Emily turned from her inspection of the photos, her idea momentarily forgotten as Kelly murmured a distracted goodbye and disconnected the call.

"Well?" Emily demanded in the wake of Kelly's dumbfounded silence.

She jumped slightly before moving closer and lowering her voice. "Morgan thinks that Candice could be the unsub we're looking for."

Emily stared, stunned. "A fifteen year old, five foot slip of sullen-teenage nothing stabbed four women multiple times to death? Seriously?"

"Her DNA was found on the latest victim in a place it shouldn't have been. We also need to check for a certain type of lipstick. If we can find it, we'll need to take her in for questioning, though for that we'll have to wait for her father to get home and then of course we'll be in all kinds of trouble since he'll immediately leap to defend her. Morgan's going to try to get a warrant to us as fast as possible."

Emily sighed and muttered darkly as she turned back to the photos, "What on earth is going on here?"

"Your guess is as good as mi..."

She spun quickly at the thud of something solid hitting flesh in time to see Kelly crumple to the ground. A flash of movement on her right was all that kept her from taking a blow herself as she jerked herself to the left. It unfortunately didn't keep her from the path of the knife her attacker had moved in close to her underneath her vision while she was distracted.

She staggered slightly as pain threatened her vision, but managed to keep her feet long enough to punch Candice in the face, breaking her nose and causing her to fall to the ground unconscious. She stumbled over to Kelly as she pulled out her phone and dialled 9-1-1. She was relieved to find that her friends' breathing and pulse rate were steady as she reported on her situation. Finishing the call, she looked down at the knife sticking out of the top of her abdomen.

"I am so over this."

She somehow found the strength to tie Candice up, though the girl was still unconscious when the police arrived hot on the heels of the ambulance. A paramedic checked her over and packed her nose carefully to keep it from bleeding further, but said she would be fine until the next bus arrived. Kelly was already beginning to come to as Emily was strapped to a stretcher, so the medics decided to take both women, with Kelly sitting in the passenger seat.

"You FBI agents must be seriously unlucky. This is the second call we've attended today where the victims worked for your agency."

Kelly waited a moment as his words put themselves into an order she could understand in her mind before asking huskily, "What?"

"An SUV got hit by a pickup running a red light. The driver was trying to get his pregnant wife to hospital in a hurry, got distracted and shot straight across the intersection. We arrived on the scene to find four agents stumbling about as they tried to help the couple that hit them."

Again it took a minute for her to comprehend what he said. Frowning, she asked, "So everyone was alright?"

"Surprisingly yes. The wife gave birth safely, her husband has a broken wrist, one of your guys has a mild concussion and they all have various bruises, cuts and abrasions caused by shattering glass from the impact."

"Mattie, how long to the hospital?"

"Just pulling in now."

"Good."

Mattie helped his partner unload the gurney from the ambulance before he returned to the passenger side for his other patient. He helped ease her down from the seat and they followed in the wheeled beds' wake as they went through the emergency only entrance into the busy ER.

They were directed off to the right, and Mattie almost immediately recognised the younger of the two male agents he'd bussed to the hospital earlier in the afternoon.

"Well don't you look a sight better than you did," he stated with a grin as he remembered the many cuts that he'd had bleeding freely from the broken glass.

The man started to grin at him in reply, but his face paled instead as Mattie helped Kelly onto the bed next to his.

"What happened?" he demanded in shock as he took in the bruise covering the side of her face and the blood still trickling from her temple.

"Morgan was right. Candice was the unsub, but his call came almost too late. She knocked me out and went for Emily. Try not to panic too much, they don't think the knife wound she took hit anything vital. She was still conscious when we arrived."

"Where?" he snapped as he slid off his bed.

Mattie muttered something uncomplimentary about walking wounded and offered a hand in support as the agent wove unsteadily on his feet, one hand going to his head briefly as he steadied.

"I'm sure your agent is in the best of hands…"

"She's also my wife," Aaron stated impatiently as he turned his head in an attempt to get an idea of where she was.

Sighing heavily, Mattie eased him forward and led him to a trauma room at the opposite side of the open-plan area. When a nurse glared at him, he lifted his free hand and did his best to look innocent.

"This is Agent Prentiss' husband. He heard about the attack on her and is insisting on seeing for himself that she is alright."

The nurse sighed as well, allowed Aaron to see his wife and be reassured by the doctor and then firmly returned him to his bed just as the orders came through for him to be taken up to a ward for monitoring of his concussion.

New Section

Emily gently rocked Micah back and forth with the help of the rocking chair she was sitting on. The baby had a mild fever and slight cough and had been clingy since they arrived home several hours earlier. Not that she blamed her son; she was feeling incredibly clingy too, yet rather relieved by what she had resolved in her own mind.

_Now I just have to tell Aaron…_

She watched as her husband carefully eased Nathaniel into his cot.

"Good job," Emily said softly with a smile.

"Thanks," he replied with equal softness. He walked over and sat down on the stool beside the rocking chair. "Spit it out Em, whatever it is that is making you avoid me since we got home."

She searched his face, seeing his tiredness and knowing it mirrored her own. The last three days since the end of the Phoenix case had taken their toll as they helped Derek and Reid tidy up loose ends. Not that she'd helped much beyond giving them her statement. They'd all kept her out of it from that moment on, since she'd nearly ended up being the last victim.

The story Candice told turned her blood to ice in her veins. Sexually groomed by a teacher over a three year period, he'd then discarded her when she grew too old for him. Candice had been left feeling adrift and bewildered, and had transferred her unhealthy sexual fascination to her father, who had admitted to having suspicions about it, but also admitted to doing nothing about it. Neither had he ever touched her, even after his wife was gone; instead finding any number of willing women to bed whenever the urge hit. Candice admitted to killing her mother in a fit of jealousy, believing that she was a rival that, once removed, would give her a clear shot at the father she loved so much only to realise eventually that he would never look at her that way. She also admitted to killing the other women because she was jealous of her fathers' attention focused on them and not on her.

She was saddened by it all, and determined to do her utmost to ensure that kind of thing _never_ happened to one of her precious daughters.

Looking back down at her youngest son, she sighed softly. "When we return to work on Monday, I'm going to tender my resignation."

She tried keeping her gaze fastened on Micah's sleeping face, but Aaron gently forced her chin up so that she was looking at him instead as he asked simply, "Why?"

Swallowing hard, she took care to keep her voice steady so that she wouldn't wake the baby. "We both could have died on this case. And while I know that Sean would do a creditable job raising the kids with Carrie and Mirkal to help, I don't want the children to grow up and hear stories _about_ me from someone else. I'd rather be around to raise them myself and have them _know_ me. I don't delude myself into thinking that nothing will happen for the rest of my life, but I'm sick and tired of almost dying on the job just to catch the bad guys. I'd rather jump into Jack's camp and view you as the hero of the family making my world a safer place."

"We wouldn't see each other as much. I know you aren't even slightly like her, but that was the entire reason Haley and I split as we did. I don't want that for us."

"Neither do I, and you're right; I am _nothing_ like Haley. She didn't get _you_ the agent-hero any more than she got _you_ the man. Whereas I get that one is not that different from the other and I love _all_ of you, not just the parts of you I'm expected to want. I'm not about to quit on us because you are who you are.

"But at the same time, I'm missing my children by being back at work. If I could do it over, I would happily have had more time between pregnancies. But I didn't, and those two years of being exclusively with the children taught me an appreciation of not being a workaholic that I couldn't possibly have otherwise grasped.

"And when it all boils down to it, I'm tired Aaron. Tired of working ridiculous hours in faraway places chasing nasty scum to ground and not getting to live my life because when I'm at home I'm too tired for anything else. I want out, now, while I'm still young enough to chase the kids around the backyard and to chase down the few illusive dreams I haven't had the time to make come true."

"You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you?"

The ghost of a smile briefly crossed her features and she answered in a dry voice, "Well, it wasn't as if I didn't have anything else to do while stuck in yet _another_ hospital bed and kept from even the paperwork that was still needed to be filled out for the case file. I had time to do nothing _but_ think."

He nodded slowly and sighed. "I admit to contemplating quitting more than once over the last few years, but you're right; the man that I am is both the superhero our son sees and the father he adores. I can't separate the two sides and trying to do so is what drove the wedge of death into my first marriage. I can't be someone I'm not, not yet anyway. I'll miss working with you, and I _know_ that there'll be a public outcry the moment word gets out that you're leaving, but I do understand and if that is what you want, I won't stop you."

Sagging in relief, she smiled tentatively up at him as he stood. He smiled back with so much warmth and love that she was forced to look down as she found herself suddenly battling tears of happiness.

"See if you can put him in his cot without waking him up and then come to bed. We'll celebrate your decision to resign and see if you're recovered enough for something just a little bit naughty."

Standing carefully she teased, "Only a _little_ bit naughty?"

"Until the doctor clears you next week, yes."

"Oh pooh," she pouted, though she was struggling not to smile hugely at him.

He just grinned back and watched as she successfully put Micah to bed. They slipped from the room together and into their own through the next door. Then he made her a promise with every kiss and caress that if she was patient, she would get what she wanted soon enough.

**End**

**Reviews are love and encouragement for faster typing and updates, and with the conveniently placed box right under these words they are easier than ever to leave. You don't even need to sign in, though I'd love to be able to thank you for your kind words. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Shock of all shocks…I've put out another chapter! I've decided that if you all wish to abandon me, you are more than entitled to after my continued promises of regular updates keep falling apart. In this instance, I can only apologise for the length of this gap; I lost the usb I keep all my work on and found my backup information was over a year old. I have been dragging my feet in sorting out what I still have and what I had to replace. But I am now back on track, so hopefully this won't happen again.**

**Reviews are love, even if I feel they are undeserved because I am a bad author. So my gratefulness is massive as I thank Daisyangel, Hazmatt and HGRHfan35 for your reviews of my last posted chapter. Thanks also to Leather2Lace for your review of Arabian Nights 30.**

**Wtiger5, your support and commiserations over the last few months have been appreciated. I'm thrilled that you enjoyed your visit, am missing you like mad, and I can't wait to see you again. Thanks always for your help with this crazy little adventure of mine.**

**WARNING: This chapter is rated K+.**

**Please note that this chapter will focus mainly on Lydia Scott and her family, characters that were introduced towards the end of Arabian Nights and have been woven in to parts of the storyline since that point. You will also see the Scotts throughout this story, particularly as Arianna Scott is Jack Hotchner's 'girlfriend'.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me. And the list of those I do own is getting so incredibly long that I am just going to say that I own anyone who does not come directly from Criminal Minds.**

Chapter 5

September 2014

Pulled from a deep sleep by a persistent buzzing noise after such a full-on day was not what she wanted, Lydia thought sleepily as she finally figured out what the noise was. Reaching for her phone on the bedside table, she saw through bleary eyes that it was just after four in the morning and she instinctively knew that it was Cameron calling her at this ungodly hour of the morning. She vaguely remembered him taking a call late the evening before after they'd retired for the night and him gently kissing her goodbye.

Squashing her annoyance that this call was probably to notify her that he would be out of the country for the next however long, she answered in a husky voice, "Hello?"

"Hey Sunshine."

She smiled slightly at his contrite tone. "You going away?"

"Unfortunately. It should only be for a couple of days since it all seems pretty straightforward. I know you haven't been well lately and I promised to be around to help you out with the kids so you could have tomorrow to yourself, but this is a follow up on a previous assignment that I can't say no to."

"You must be feeling pretty guilty to give me that much information."

"Guiltier than you know. I'm not sure I've ever fully communicated to you how resentful I am of my duty to God and country when I get pulled away from your warmth in the middle of the night. At least during the day it is easier."

She let her eyes drift closed as she pictured him in her mind's eye. "You don't resent your duty; it's such a fundamental piece of who you are. You might miss my warmth, but resenting your bosses for the choice of your employment? Not likely."

He was silent a moment before he responded.

"Can I get points for trying to make you feel better about my absence?"

"I'll get back to you on that one when you return."

"Fair enough. I have to run now, so give my love to the children along with hugs and kisses and I will see you come the weekend."

"I love you Cameron, even as annoyed as I am."

"I know," he said smugly, making her laugh. "And I love you too, so much it _does_ hurt to be parted from you."

She smiled happily. "Your pain is your saviour."

He roared with laughter, bid her goodbye and hung up. She smiled as she eased the phone back on to the table and snuggled back down under the covers, with Cameron's pillow held securely in her arms. She wasn't entirely convinced she'd get back to sleep, but the combination of her busy day with kids and work and the stomach virus that just wouldn't go away was enough to send her straight back to sleep to dream of her man and how much love they had between them.

New Section

She watched with relief as Rhys went running happily towards the play centre in the corner of the large room of the daycare he attended part-time. Normally she loved having him home with her on the days she didn't work, but she was making an exception this week. Monday she'd still been feeling under the weather from the virus she had at the weekend, and having a highly active two and a half year old running around had sent her to bed the second Cameron had walked in the door. Tuesday had been her work day, so she'd dealt with the active toddler in the morning and then went off to teach adults and teenagers the martial arts she loved so much. She'd been so ill by the time she was done that she'd had to call her husband to rescue both her and their children. He lovingly put her to bed and told her not to worry, that he was taking the rest of the week off so she could rest.

_And then duty called…_

She spoke briefly with the room supervisor before she walked slowly back to her car. A quick check of her watch showed she still had over an hour before she was due to see her doctor but the thought of driving all the way home only to have to come all the way back left her almost in tears, so she put the car in gear and headed over to the clinic, thinking that she could just as easily sit quietly in the waiting room as she could in her car.

45 minutes later, a nurse crouched down in front of her. "Mrs. Scott? The doctor has just had a cancellation and the next patient isn't here just yet. Would you like to come on through?"

She nodded in relief and stood. The sooner she saw the doctor, the sooner she could get something for this bug and head home to sleep the rest of the day. 20 minutes later she could only gape at her doctor in shock.

"Are you sure?" she managed to gasp out.

She smiled gently at her. "I'm looking at the results now Lydia. According to your blood work, you're about ten weeks pregnant which puts you due early in May."

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, putting a couple of things together in her head. "That explains the nausea and vomiting, but I've _never_ been quite _this_ tired before, even in the first trimester."

She inclined her head. "Several factors could be contributing. You're older than you've been with previous pregnancies. Your blood pressure is a little too low for my liking, but we can keep an eye on that. You're also a little more iron deficient this time around, which is probably because you and Cameron weren't actively trying to conceive, like you were the last three times. Otherwise we'd have just increased your iron levels while you were trying and you wouldn't now be feeling so flat. That isn't a serious issue however. I'll write you up a prescription for iron supplements and you know the rest by heart."

She nodded agreement as she picked up her pen. She knew the drill; what to eat, what not to eat, getting lots more rest and taking it easy. She'd have to let the Sensei know that she would have to stop actively sparring, even in demostration, even as she could see instantly how that could have contributed to her feeling so unwell yesterday in particular, as she had been demonstrating several new moves to her students in three of her classes.

A quiet sigh escaped her even as she smiled softly and settled her hands on her stomach.

"Alright?"

She looked up and beamed a smile at the older woman now standing beside her. "I'm fine. Extremely surprised, but happy none-the-less."

"Good. Make an appointment to come back and see me in a couple of weeks and we'll do your twelve week check-up. Get that husband of yours to treat you like glass over the next few weeks in particular and you'll come through it just fine."

Smiling in agreement, she kept quiet about Cameron's current absence and left. A few minutes later she stood back beside her car in the autumn sunshine and as tired as she was, the sudden sweet craving that hit her had her heading across the street to the strip of cafes that faced the large medical complex that always seemed to be bustling with activity. She spent the next hour dreaming about telling Cameron the news that baby number four was well underway before she headed home to do what she could to catch up on her missed sleep before her active children returned to fill her home with all the noise they could make.

New Section

Having managed to sleep for most of the rest of the week while the kids were under the care of others, and with the sun shining on Saturday morning as she sipped at her tea, she made the decision that they were going to head out for a family bike ride. She left a note for Cameron in case he returned while they were out, packed a picnic at the children's insistence and with Rhys in the toddler seat behind her and Gavin and Arianna wriggling with excited energy, they set out for a day of fun.

She was disappointed to find that Cameron hadn't yet returned, but wasn't overly worried. He quite often returned late in the evening, to creep in well after midnight and the completion of whatever paperwork had to be done. But when the sun dawned bright and she rolled over and reached for him, she was surprised to find that he still wasn't back; his side of the bed just as cold as it had been for the last few nights.

Determined not to worry the children or make a big thing out of what she had been told would be routine, she woke the children and got them ready for church, even though all she wanted to do was stay home and wait for her husband to return to her, since he'd promised to be back with her by the weekend.

So she felt panic trying to find a foothold as she pulled the car into her driveway with the children in the back to see Cameron's boss, Lt. Colonel Frank Ajira standing on her front porch with his hand raised to knock on the door.

Her hands gripped the steering wheel tight enough to make the plastic groan a little, her knuckles gone completely white as she watched the man walk down the stairs toward her. She couldn't see from his expression why he was here, but she somehow knew deep down that she wasn't going to like whatever he had to say to her.

"Mummy? Are we going in for lunch now?" Arianna asked.

"Food!" Rhys shouted with glee.

Gavin looked from the man waiting patiently for them to his mother and somehow knew that something was wrong.

"Mum? What's that man doing here?"

Lydia pushed her feelings down deep and forced a smile through lips that were numb with her fear. The action of reaching for her seatbelt stabilised her heart rate and the motions needed to extricate Rhys from his car seat steadied the rest of her. She handed the keys to Gavin and quietly asked him to keep everyone occupied changing into regular clothes until she could get inside to make lunch. He shot her another concerned look, but rounded the younger two up and herded them inside.

She waited until they were alone in the sunshine before she skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the heart of what she _knew_.

"Cameron isn't ever coming home, is he?"

The Colonel sighed heavily. "I honestly don't know, though my prayers and those of the rest of the battalion are that I can answer that question with a positive shortly."

His answer was so completely different to what she had braced to hear that she blinked up at him in shock. "What do you mean?"

"Will you come and sit on the porch with me?"

She led the way, but could only perch on the edge of the padded wicker seat as he settled himself into place.

"Captain Scott is MIA."

"What? How?"

"We don't know how. One moment he was with his team and their mission was as straightforward as any of them get, and the next moment we were missing two of them and the rest were requesting an urgent extraction from their location."

"Well where…"

"You know better than that, Mrs. Scott," the Colonel chided gently.

Wrapping her arms around her waist protectively as the nausea hit her for the first time that day, she whispered, "Who else is missing?"

"Sergeant Wolmez."

"Oh no. His wife is expecting their first child any day now."

"We have no reason to believe either of them are dead."

"What's being done to find my husband and the Sergeant?"

"We have sent several teams to look for them, but the situation being what it is, they have to be very careful of how they go about it. I can promise you though that we won't stop looking until we find them, and we'll keep you up-to-date on what we do find."

She nodded and said something, though she didn't quite know what as a great white roaring static rose up to take control of her mind. Yet somehow she must have said all the right things, because a minute later he rose and left, and she was walking inside to feed her children. She fielded their questions, reassuring them that everything was alright, when inside a little voice screamed that nothing would be alright ever again.

Knowing that she didn't want to be alone at the moment, she thought about contacting Suzie Wolmez, but knew the younger woman had family that she could lean on. She wished suddenly that her parents were closer than the other side of the country, but then realised that she did have someone closer that she could contact. Someone who could be of inestimable help.

"Everyone grab shoes and jackets please."

"Where're we going mummy?" Arianna asked with wide eyes.

She smiled gently, knowing her answer would make her daughter's day.

"We're going to visit the Hotchners."

New Section

Emily opened the door to find three very scared children on her doorstep…and a woman she admired greatly who could barely see straight she was crying so hard.

She turned and shouted for Carrie, who came running to take charge of the children. Of course, the children came too to see what had made their mother shout so uncharacteristically and Emily would have thought it adorable to watch Jack trying to comfort Arianna as he led her away if she hadn't had her hands full of the distraught woman in her arms.

She pulled Lydia into the living room and waved Jordan back down to the couch where she was feeding her new baby. Long minutes passed while Lydia sobbed as if her world had ended. When she finally sighed softly in exhaustion, she shifted, settling her head in Emily's lap and whispered brokenly, "Cameron's missing."

Emily and Jordan exchanged a shocked look that spoke volumes, and declared their understanding of Lydia's heartbreak.

"When did you find out?" Emily asked gently as she stroked the soft auburn hair under her hand in a soothing manner.

"Just before lunch. Cameron's boss himself came to tell me the news, probably because he is so darned well liked. Which is good 'cause there are lots of people now looking for him. But I don't even know where they're looking and they don't even seem to know what happened and this just can't be happening 'cause I'm pregnant again and Cameron doesn't even know and what on earth am I supposed to do without him if they never find him?"

Lydia started crying all over again, soft tears that just wouldn't stop. Jordan finished feeding her child and settled him in his carrier, then moved to the floor in front of the couch, adding her hands to Emily's in comfort until the crying ceased again.

"I know I don't have the right to ask, but could you make enquiries? See if anyone knows anything?"

Emily was stunned. "Lydia, honey, you saved my life. You can ask me anything you like and I'll do my best to make it happen."

Jordan handed the phone over and Emily immediately called Aaron, explaining the situation and asking him to see if any of his vast resources could produce any more information than what Lydia had been given. He promised to check and call if he heard anything. He also suggested they have Lydia stay for a couple of days and she admitted that she'd been thinking something similar. She could hear the smile in his voice as he'd bidden her goodbye.

Jordan coaxed Lydia up and to the bathroom while Emily checked on the children and found them all watching a movie together. She explained the situation softly to Carrie, who said softly, "Those poor children. Do they know yet?"

"Not yet, I think, and we'll leave that up to Lydia to inform them. Can you arrange the rooms accordingly and keep the kids occupied for now?"

"Of course."

She walked back down the stairs and found Jordan had figured out the best way to cut through the grief had everything to do with cuddles. Lydia looked up at her entry and smiled slightly.

"Chocolate babies are so cute, especially with the tight curly hair on top."

Jordan laughed and Emily grinned as she joined the two women and the baby on the couch.

"I always thought so," Jordan said in a pleased voice as she gently tucked her son's blanket in closer around his head.

They spent a good half an hour discussing one month old Ryan John Morgan's good and bad features before Gavin crept in to the room to stand in front of his mother. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to snow this child of hers, Lydia handed Ryan back to his mother and held out her arms to her son. She watched him hesitate a moment before he moved into her embrace. At ten years of age, he still liked hugs, but they normally occurred on his terms now, not whenever she wanted one.

"Something's happened to Dad, hasn't it?" he asked, his voice muffled in her shoulder.

Lydia sighed heavily and nodded as he straightened up. "He's missing sweetheart. His boss doesn't know where he is right now, but he's got a lot of people looking for him really hard."

"Will they find him?" he whispered.

"We have to believe they will," she said firmly as she feathered her fingers through his hair, noticing he was due for a cut. "We have to pray, and believe with every bone in all our bodies that he will come back to us, because a long time ago, before you were even born, he once promised me that he would _always_ come back to me. And I have to trust that he'll keep that promise even now all these years later. Can you trust and believe with me?"

He nodded vigorously and hugged her tight with a soft cry of pain. Then he wrenched his way out of her arms and ran out of the room, obviously hoping none of them had seen him cry.

Lydia wiped away a couple of tears and took a deep breath. "I need to go find him and apologise for falling apart. Then I need to do the same to the others and tell them what's going on. Then dinner…I don't know what I'm going to do if he isn't found," she finished helplessly.

Emily and Jordan wrapped her up in a tight hug. Emily said, "You're staying with us for the next few days; Aaron and I insist so don't even think of arguing. And from there you'll have all of us to help. You won't have to go through this on your own."

"Thank you Emily. You have no idea how much I needed to know that I'm not on my own. But now, I'll go find Gavin. I think I heard him go out back."

They watched her leave before Jordan asked softly, "Do you think she's strong enough to cope with it all if they don't find Cameron alive?"

Emily shoved both hands through her hair as she nodded cautiously. "She'll get through it because she has three children and one coming that need her to strong if their world ends as they know it. I'm not saying it will be easy, but she'll get there because she has to."

"I'm not sure I could be that strong if I lost Derek."

"I just refuse to think about it, despite the fact that I know that isn't a realistic way of treating such a potentially devastating eventuality. It simply is what it is for me."

"Yeah," Jordan said softly.

They lapsed into silence as they both sent up silent prayers of protection for their husbands and friends and watched as Lydia and her son clung to each other in comfort. And everyone hoped that everything would just somehow work out alright in the end.

New Section

The sound of buzzing flies mingled with the distant sounds of men calling out to each other and a baby crying as wakefulness intruded on the dream he was having of his graduation day as a full-fledged Green Beret. He smelled blood, urine, vomit and faeces, both human and animal, but when he tried to hold his nose, he found he couldn't move his hands and his nose felt like it was broken, which was odd considering the smells assaulting him were still making it through his swollen passages. A man screamed, sudden, long and loud enough to make him tense; a huge mistake when his entire body screamed at him that he was hurt and needed to remain still for his own benefit.

Lifting his head and attempting to look out of eyes that were almost completely glued shut by both pain and something sticky that felt like it was still drying, Cameron Scott looked around him and muttered, "What the hell?"

**End**

**Reviews are love and encouragement for faster typing and updates, and with the conveniently placed box right under these words they are easier than ever to leave. You don't even need to sign in, though I'd love to be able to thank you for your kind words.**


End file.
